


Green Flowers, Blue Fish

by the10amongstthese3s



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Aquariums, Beheaded Cousins, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Jane is a good mum as always, Light Angst, Parr is a depressed baby sometimes and that's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the10amongstthese3s/pseuds/the10amongstthese3s
Summary: After a stressful week of interviews, Jane Seymour decides to treat the queens with a trip to the aquarium. One queen in particular, she knows, needs the trip more than anyone.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 129





	Green Flowers, Blue Fish

Being a 16th-century queen in the 21st century isn’t all fun and games. Sure, performing in their musical and having so many new things to discover was cool, but there were setbacks that came with that too for the Tudor Queens.

One thing in particular that the queens quickly came to dislike were interviews. Especially days where they’d have multiple, one after another. All forcing them to discuss the painful histories of their lives and deaths. All plaguing them with awful memories they’d rather forget, giving them nightmares for the rest of the week.

Nobody was affected more than the beheaded cousins.

No matter how hard Anne would try to hide it, everyone could sense her discomfort in talking about her death or - even worse - her daughter. Yet still, everybody wanted to know about the mother of the greatest queen to ever rule England. Of course they did.

Katherine Howard wasn’t quite as skilled at hiding her distress. After each interview she became like a koala, clinging to Jane. She’d have done the same to Anne if not for the older girl secluding herself in her room the moment they got home. So, instead, Jane had the teenager sleeping in her bed night after night, too fearful of the flashbacks and memories to sleep. 

The nightmares were even worse. Once the girl did finally fall asleep, she’d wake up screeching, hitting at Jane as the woman attempted to wake her.

In her own room, Anne would sob silently into her blankets, as did the others queens many nights. Remembering their past lives was all just so overwhelming.

One queen who was affected more than anybody realised though was Catherine Parr.

They were so used to her hiding in her room, scribbling away at her desk for days on end, that nobody blinked twice when she began to spiral in the privacy of her own study. Sure, she had a rather good life in comparison to Anne and Kit, but that didn’t change the fact that she died before she got to meet her child. It didn’t stop her mind racing, wondering what happened to her daughter, every single time the others got questioned about their own children.

Nobody cared enough to ask about her daughter though. About her Mae.

It was after a particularly grueling interview week that Jane decided she needed to treat the girls. Even Aragon and Cleves were beginning to crack under the pressure. They all so desperately needed a break.

Though she didn’t say anything, Jane had noticed the bags under Parr’s eyes. She’d noticed the footsteps back and forth between the kitchen at all hours of the night in search of more coffee. She’d even noticed the gentle sobs sounding from the downstairs bedroom when she’d gone to make a cup of tea at 6am. 

That’s why, when she announced that she was taking Anne and Kit to the aquarium, she insisted that it be a family day out. Every queen had to join; no exceptions.

Parr had protested at first, but reluctantly agreed when she saw the upset look on Kit’s face. Even running on four hours of sleep over three days, Parr couldn’t bring herself to ruin the girl’s day. Kit deserved one nice day between the awful nightmare-filled evenings.

Still, though, Parr was grumpy and quiet all the way to the aquarium. She couldn’t be bothered dealing with Anne’s jokes or Kit’s clinginess, so she opted to in the passenger seat and listen to an audiobook through her earphones whilst Aragon drove. Thankfully, the audiobook did somewhat block out the sound of the group singing along to the radio, though that didn’t keep it from irritating her.

Even once they got inside the aquarium, Parr barely smiled. She just sipped on her flask, always staying a step or two behind the group.

The woman barely even registered Kit pointing excitedly at the angelfish, telling her to, “look at these, Cathy!” Sure, they were pretty, but Parr could be at home right now. She could be doing so many things more important than watching as Kit sheepishly stroked a starfish or squealed at a crab.

At some point, Anne ran off to see the sharks, prompting Aragon to chase her down before she had the chance to wreak havoc in the shark tunnel. Kit disappeared too after a while, dragging Cleves off to look at the seahorses. Of course, Parr didn’t notice though. She was too distracted by the ringing in her ears.

Just as she reached her lowest point, and felt close to tears, Parr noticed something from a tank beside her. A strange-looking creature, moving ever so gracefully. Parr remembered them from the nature shows Anne loved so much. 

Stingrays.

Their peaceful aura was captivating to the stressed-out writer. Parr just watched in on awe, feeling a weight finally lifted from her shoulders as she imagined floating alongside the beautiful, calm creatures. Anne had talked about these in the past. About how one had killed a beloved Australian wildlife expert. Looking at the majestic beasts now though, Parr had no idea how anyone could be afraid of them. How anyone could see them as a threat.

She related to them in a way that felt all too real. Sweet, gentle creatures, demonised purely because they were misunderstood. That was an injustice, Parr knew, but public perception isn’t so easily changed. Not for the better, anyway.

Maybe that didn’t matter though. Maybe, just maybe, somebody like her could see through the facade. Just once in a while, somebody could find the beauty within the danger. Somebody could look past the history and into the wonderful, calm oceans of the future.

For the first time in a long time, Parr felt her heart rate slow, placing a gentle hand on the glass as she watched the rays. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt calm, in this life or any other. Watching those wonderful sea monsters though, somehow, Parr knew everything would be okay. Just for one moment, it was okay to let her guard down. 

To relax.

To breathe.

After what felt like forever, yet nowhere near enough time, Parr felt a hand slip inside of her own and give it a gentle squeeze.

“We can come back, love. Whenever you need to. Okay?” A familiar, comforting voice hummed. Jane. Of course, it was Jane. 

Unsure how to respond, Parr just gave a nod and murmured a small, “thank you.” At this, Jane gave a smile and pressed a kiss to the girl’s cheek, her grip never once threatening to loosen around the younger girl’s hand. 

No, Jane was there for her now. They all were. She didn’t have to do this alone anymore. She had no reason to prove herself; no need to put on a strong, hard-headed persona for the people on the outside looking in. For once in her life - in all of her lives - Catherine Parr had the freedom to relax. She had people who saw her. Who saw the sweetness inside. 

“Come on, my darling. Let’s get you home,” Jane suggested, making Parr’s lips finally curve into a smile. 

Home. Yes, that sounded nice.

**Author's Note:**

> Can you guess my favourite animal? 😝 Happy new years eve, guys! Thank you so much for reading this (and all the other works I've published the last few months)!! I hope 2020 brings you plenty of joy - you deserve it 💚🦆


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